]]>Madagascar, which itself feels like something of a spin-off, is getting a movie spun-off from it. Penguins are so hot right now that it was pretty much a no-brainer for the DreamWorks execs, who are no stranger to spinning things off.

In fact, the pseudo-military penguin quartet have been spun-off before, albeit not for their very own theatrical release. Rather, “The Penguins of Madagascar” aired as a show on Nickelodeon in 2010, garnering second place among viewers 2-11, which should speak volumes about what we’re in for with the feature. How do you make ANYTHING for a two year-old?

Further, the four penguins got their own short upon the Blu-Ray release of the first film, so this opportunity is clearly one that DreamWorks has been eyeing for some time. Along with the announcement of the project also came the announcement that Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the writing team behind Megamind, will be penning the script. If anyone out there has seen Megamind, please put in the comments whether this is good or bad news.

This is currently the only DreamWorks Animation project without a release date, as they scheduled their entire development slate a couple weeks back. It’s safe to assume that this release won’t beat Madagascar 3‘s release in 2012, which means there is a decent chance that these penguin’s target market hasn’t even been born yet. Expect DreamWorks marketing to find a way to tap the zygote consciousness in the coming years to achieve maximum penetration and awareness. (THR)